Felicity Ch. 19

Chapter 19. Melody/Ruthie

Melody was one of just two acts Robby Chapman kept from the bankrupt company he bought. He did so on the recommendation of his cousin Edie and her husband Allen. Like many others Robby saw Melody as not worth the trouble.

Allen saw her as a gifted musician and fine songwriter. Edie saw her as a potential idol to young ladies and girls. Edie and Allen were musicians of note themselves so when Robby bought the company he followed their advice and kept Melody but his purpose in buying the company was to make his other a star.

Unknown to all but a few Melody had regular bouts of stage fright. She had covered that up by throwing tantrums about some imagined slight and refusing to go on.

It was the major reason she had not been offered a recording contract until two guys found themselves desperate for acts for their pipe dream. When her company was bought she thought her career was over and was shocked to learn that she was one of just two performers her new company kept.

That brought on another attack of self-doubt and she made herself a difficult person to deal with.

Edie had seen through that. In the middle of a tantrum at a recording studio Edie had hugged Melody and kissed her cheek.

She had whispered, "Together we will manage. Together we will overcome it. You are stronger than you think you are. You are more talented than you think you are. Ruthie, I am here for you whenever you need me to be."

Ruthie remembered bursting into tears and falling in love with Edie at the same instant. Surprisingly after the sexual part had been satisfied she realized she loved Edie even more. She knew there would be no Melody without her, probably no Ruthie either.

The first hit video for Felicity Music was of Melody on You Tube. The first hit song was Melody's first single on iTunes. The first hit CD was Melody's first album.

Her real name was Ruth and she was born and raised in Canada. She had spent her life moving between Toronto and Montreal. Her parents were symphony orchestra musicians. Ruthie was much more than an accomplished pianist and vocalist. Her song writing appealed to girls from eight to twenty five years old. Fluent in two languages and with a sharp mind she seemed to be destined for stardom. Her temperament was holding her back.

Edie was the first to call her Ruthie and in fact had never called her Melody except in the third person. Melody was slowly becoming a third person for Ruthie too. Others took the cue and called her Ruthie. All were soon treated to the girl she was at home, a pleasant, bubbly, pretty girl with a wicked sense of humor.

She was tall, blonde, had a great body and as she put it herself, "Yummy tits." She was just twenty-two years old. She was a lesbian.

Ruthie had been in town for four weeks putting her second CD together. After the first two nights at the Seafoam she had checked out and moved into Edie and Allen's house. She had her own bedroom there. There was a piano there.

Knowing Melody's ongoing bouts with stage fright Robby, Allen and Edie decided that her first concert for Felicity Music would be over the Internet in a small venue. They decided that friendly faces and a familiar place would allow her to shine. The small venue belonged to her friend and occasional lover Jana.

Four of the songs Melody would be performing were written by Edie, two of which were new. She and Edie had collaborated on two others and all would be on her second CD.

During the concert Edie would be accompanying Melody's piano on violin. Allen would be on cello; Alice and Marie would provide backup vocals for her. Alice's daughter Nikki would be on drums. It was as comfortable a set up as she could have and still hope for an impact.

Edie assured Ruthie that her last disastrous attempt at a live concert was not going to happen again, she was too good, too talented, and too strong to let herself down. She reminded her that everyone in the audience would be people that already loved her.

Melody approached the concert date more confident than any other performance she ever had. She trusted Edie and if Edie said she would be great then she would be great. Still she had the jitters. Edie reminded her that every performer in history had the jitters before going on.

It would be opening night for Jana's Place and the first live feed for Felicity Music. Ruthie was not the only one suffering from the jitters.

The concert would be broadcast live in HD over Felicity Music's web site. The five cameras were fixed so not to distract Melody.

Still, a slight hesitation on her part before going on stage prompted Edie to swat Melody's butt and say, "You don't go out you don't get any."

Melody entered the stage laughing and followed Edie's advice to find a girl in the audience she wanted to seduce and sing the first song to her. That girl soon lost all color and fainted. Jana and Inga were right behind her and caught her, then carried her to a booth that had Mo, Marie, Janice, Wendy and the girls mother Petra.

Melody was pleasantly shocked to learn that everyone knew the words from every song on her first CD. She extended one of them so the audience could sing the chorus again. Twenty minutes into the concert she was having a blast and it showed. The concert itself became an affirmation of love between Melody and her fans. She had them laughing, crying and singing throughout.

A third of the way into the concert she introduced a song by simply asking the audience to "Please forgive your mothers if they squeal," then shocked Alice and Marie when she played the intro of a Fronds song. They did not know Melody was a fan of theirs.

As Alice and Marie began there were scattered squeals around the room that brought an "I told you so" smile to Melody's lips.

The squeals from booth number one brought the younger Petra back to the present. After making sure she understood it was a secret Shawna helped her back to near her original position to the stage. She was easily Melody's most ardent fan in the audience.

The younger ladies loved The Frond's song and as had happened four years before in Las Vegas the audience sang the last chorus with them.

Later in the show Melody joined the ladies on one more Fronds song. Alice and Marie won their first big following among the younger set that night.

The next song was from Edie and after saying so to the audience Melody stood and asked the audience if anyone else had a bossy big sister. Loud cheers gave her the answer. Edie got up and swatted her butt and resumed her seat with an angelic smile.

Melody picked up the mike and walked over to Allen and said, "This is my brother in law Allen. He is as handsome as genius gets.

This is Nikki, former drummer for The Dolls and Alice's daughter.

They are Alice and Marie. Great artists in their own right as you have already seen. They are also my Milf's, she said as she goosed Alice's butt.

Marie pretended to restrain Alice from going after Melody. The laugh that bit produced lasted a while. Edie was standing next to Melody when the laughter died down.

"This is Edie, Grammy award winner in classical music. My best friend. My sister." The closest Melody got to losing her composure was when she hugged Edie. Both had tears rolling down their cheeks when they began the next song.

It was a song about sisters and Alice and Marie sang responding chorus to Melody. Half way through the song the audience realized the song was a musical conversation of a girl with her dead sister. It was an emotional roller coaster for the audience that had many of them numb when it ended quietly.

Mo and Wendy were not the only sisters with tears flowing down their cheek. Nor were they the only ones to delay their applause for a furious hug first. If anyone had looked at Edie they would have seen the saddest smile they had ever seen. Per her wishes, it would be the only time the song would be performed. It would never be on a CD and yet it remained a top requested song for years. The only place to find it would be on that nights DVD.

To get them back to party mode Melody followed with her hit single that everyone sang from start to finish.

A concert that had been scheduled for forty-five minutes lasted an hour and a half. Melody sang two songs in French and one in Spanish, the latter an angry song from the late Rocio Jurado taught to her by Juanita. Melody could do angry.

Robby immediately made the executive decision to replace two of the scheduled songs on the new CD with one of the French songs and the song in Spanish.

Ruthie was astounded that the musicians on stage with her could join in on songs they had never played with it her before. The two songs in French were popular enough to be recognized by her audience but Quien Te Crees Tu was not except for the Hispanic girls mothers.

Yet Alice and Marie echoed the refrain flawlessly. Allen showed everyone you could make a cello sound furious. As they say, the Rocio song killed.

When it was time to do the last song Melody picked one of Edie's songs. The song had a catchy hook and the audience sang it the second and third time it came around. Edie had thought the song was too simple to merit inclusion in Melody's new CD or the concert but it turned out to be the best received of the new songs.

Every concert souvenir sold out well before the show was over. Melody was taking sips from a Dr. Pepper during the show and the next day the company offered Melody piles of cash to continue doing so.

That one concert propelled her to the ranks of rising star and coincidentally it also brought fame to Felicity, Felicity Music, and Jana's Place.

As soon as Melody left the stage after a long loud ovation and got to the dressing room she burst into tears. The emotions of the evening had overwhelmed her and the withdrawal of adrenalin had her near collapse. Edie took her into her arms and sat next to her on a loveseat.

Edie remembered her own reaction to the standing ovation and bravos she had received at the Symphony Hall after the orchestra played Edie's Air and the Maestro introduced her as the composer. Edie's Air was what won her the Grammy.

She needed her mother's and Allen's arms around her then, she needed Carly's later.

Allen understood and kissed both of them and said, "The car will be behind Sam's."

They were on the way home before the applause and cheers for her faded. In fact it did not die down until Alice picked up a microphone and told the audience, "Elvis has left the building. I repeat, Elvis has left the building. I have always wanted to say that," she said with a giggle.

The audience was still in such a good mood that she was cheered.

When they got home Edie spent the night with Ruthie in the master bedroom's bed. As had happened with Edie and Carly nearly two years before even though they were both naked there had been no sex. There was a lot of kissing and caressing but it was mostly talk.

Edie told Ruthie how great the show was, how confident she appeared, how much her audience loved her.

She also warned Ruthie about what Melody's life was about to become and not to trust anyone unless they called her Ruthie and had earned her trust.

Ruthie giggled and said, "Except for Mom and my big brother everyone that calls me Ruthie is in this town. Maybe I should move here."

"You will soon need a place to hide and you already know you can do that here. What does your sister call you?"

"Brat."

"Oh, same as me."

Ruthie gave Edie a playful poke with a giggle and a kiss. She hugged Edie to her and said, "I am so glad to have a big sister even if she is bossy."

"All big sisters are bossy. It's part of the job description," Edie countered with a kiss.

"Was Petra OK? I did not see her after she fainted."

"I saw her about thirty minutes later. She was fine."

"I guess I shouldn't do that again, huh?"

"Probably not."

Somewhere in the middle of Edie's lecture on the evils of fame Ruthie fell asleep.

Edie made sure she was comfortable and left her room to join Allen on the guest bed.

They were awakened at six in the morning. All hell had broken loose at Felicity Music. Their web site was down and the phones had been ringing since Robby got there.

Robby said, "Matt told me our site went down about midnight. It could not handle the sudden heavy traffic; he is not sure how much he can recover. He does have an apology window working and a call in to his father. He has been here since one. I need you and Edie to come in and help me with the phones."

"I will be there shortly but it may be a while before Edie will be, Ruthie is sleeping on our bed."

"How is she?"

"I think Edie talked her through the episode. She had stopped crying when I went to bed but I doubt Edie will leave her until she wakes up. That might be noon."

"Oh, OK. I will have Vicky take the kids to their now world famous grandmother then go stay with Ruthie. They have not been together yet so it would be good for them. How soon can you come over?"

"I am leaving now. See you soon."

Allen gave Edie a quick rundown of the situation and left. As he drove into town it occurred to him that Edie and Vicky had not been together yet either. She might be delayed.

The storm was about Melody. The web site went down from the volume of people looking for a copy of the concert, which was not available in the first place. The phone calls were from booking agents that wanted her on their show and promoters who wanted to handle a concert tour.

The closest thing Ruthie had to agents were Edie and Charles, her accountant. Robby and Allen decided that before the day was over she needed to have a real full time agent. Their resolved multiplied ten fold when the industry apparently learned she did not have a full time agent and those phone calls flooded in.

Edie came in two hours later. Robby had been so inundated that he had not noticed her delay. She gave Allen the little shy smile she always gave him when she had been bad. Allen chuckled at her and kissed her before he handed her a stack of notes and said, "Call these back first."

Every early morning and late night show had called. Edie called each and said she would call them back as soon as she figured something out. Edie called Helen, Maggie, Karen, Leigh and Shirley and begged them to come down and help. She was grateful they were still in summer vacation.

She then called Ruthie who immediately said, "Aren't Vicky's tits yummy? Hmmm."

"Let go of her tits and listen. The avalanched you started last night just hit the fan. You need to hurry over and make some decisions and I mean now. Your are an overnight sensation, literally."

"How much trouble am I in?"

"Only in as much we agree you can handle. Now tell Vicky to drive carefully but have you here ten minutes ago. Love you. Bye."

When Ruthie got to the building she was in full listening mode but she concentrated only on Edie's voice.

As Edie ran through potential appearances for Melody she saw her expression when she brought up the late night New York show and said, "We can save that one for much later." Ruthie kissed her because she knew Edie was keeping her promise to protect her.

After they had run through a potential schedule Edie took her to a quiet corner and hugged her.

"There is bad news isn't there?"

"Sort of, you need an agent, a real agent. Charles and I are not qualified to handle what you have suddenly become. We do not know the people or the pitfalls. Robby and Allen are conducting phone interviews with agents right now."

"You promised to be with me."

"I will be but only as your bossy big sister."

Ruthie hugged her tightly and said, "That's the one I need."

They heard Allen shouting and hang up his phone. He asked no one in particular, "Is there such thing as an agent that isn't a con artist?"

The question was rhetorical but everyone clearly heard Shirley say, "If there is such a thing Edna would know. She worked in an agency in L. A."

Edie grabbed Ruthie's hand and as she led her out she told Allen, "Call Charles and tell him we have an emergency meeting right now."

During the two and a half block walk to Charles' office Ruthie got a couple shout outs and car honks for her concert the previous night. There were few people that knew Ruthie and Melody were the same person and all but two of them were in Felicity. Ruthie wore her hair in a ponytail and wore glasses around town. Melody was an auburn haired femme fatale and only appeared when necessary. Any shout outs and car honks she received would be from friends.

As they walked into the building the receptionist stood and applauded as they zoomed past her directly towards the conference room.

"Edna!" Edie shouted as she went past her office. Three minutes later in the conference room Rhonda, Carly, Fay, Charles and Edna first congratulated Ruthie for a great show then asked, "What the hell is going on over there?"

Edie said, "The nightmare of an overnight sensation. Edna when you worked at the theatrical agency in L. A., were you an agent or an accountant?"

"Both. I had a few local acts. I also did the books for them. One of them has ended up with a nice career in a Vegas lounge. I am still their agent and accountant. Why do you ask?"

"Ruthie needs an agent. A real agent who knows some people and can sniff out a bad deal. We think what we need is in this room. Charles already handles the money and Carly already handles the legalities, we want you to be her agent."

Edna shook her head and said, "She is already beyond anything I have ever handled. I would be terrified."

Ruthie said to her. "I'll let you eat my pussy if you say yes." The shock lasted a millisecond but the laughter continued for a while.

After things calmed down a little Ruthie added, "We are terrified too. What I need, what we need, is someone we do not have to wonder if they have my best interest at heart. Everybody in this room does."

"Pretty perceptive for a blonde," fellow blonde Fay said. "I vote yes," she said and kissed each of them as she left. Rhonda also voted yes and after she gave Ruthie a kiss said, "That song in Spanish better be in your new CD. It sent shivers down my spine."

Ruthie said, "Robby has already decided he would include it and said he might use the live version. Juanita was right, the song rocked."

Rhonda kissed Edna before she left and said to her, "You can handle anything."

Carly said, "OK, but for the record let's call Edna the booking agent. It will keep the pressure off her for a while. I think.

Charles had predicted it would come to this so we have a plan. The problem is we do not yet have the staff to implement it. Anybody know good accountants?"

Everyone saw Ruthie blush. "I know one and a newly minted mathematician if that helps. Janice or Wendy can get you in contact with them. They are mother and daughter both called Petra and are tourists staying at the Seafoam."

Edna said, "We could at least talk to them. My contacts in The City have come up with nothing yet and we need the help now. Do you think they would consider it? Edna asked Ruthie.

"Yes, all they keep saying over and over is that they love this town. You would like the mother," she said to Edna. All noted the extra meaning to that statement.

"Let's find them and bring them in," Carly said. "Wait, did that sound like a police TV show?"

"Yes," they all said amid chuckles and giggles.

"Maybe we should send Shawna after them," quipped Edie.

After a few more giggles Ruthie shocked every one by saying to Charles, "I need to know how much cash I have. I need to buy a house in Felicity. My real friends live here. My sister lives here. This is home."

Edna and Ruthie kissed Edie's tears and all hugged Ruthie.